Benchmarking typically refers to a test used to compare various aspects of computer-related hardware and/or software. Trade magazines and other organizations have developed various benchmark tests, which may be used when reviewing a class of products. One particular type of benchmarking is video benchmarking which tests different aspects of a graphics processor and, in particular, the manner in which the graphics processor processes video. Typically, video benchmarking can involve the testing of three primary aspects of video processing, namely visual quality, performance, and energy efficiency (which is, at least in part, a function of performance). Note prior art FIG. 1A.
When testing for performance and, indirectly, energy efficiency, video benchmarking typically involves the enablement of each of a plurality of graphics processor stages (e.g. scaling, dithering, noise reduction, etc.), after which a video playback application is executed. Upon execution, a usage of a central processing unit (CPU) working conjunction with the graphics processor is monitored. This is traditionally accomplished utilizing an operating system CPU monitoring tool or the like. If such CPU usage is high or higher than another system, such indicates that the performance of the graphics processor is incapable of offloading the CPU in an effective manner.
In addition to monitoring CPU usage, a user of the benchmark may visually inspect frame drops. Frame drops refer to frames that are ultimately not displayed due to a lack of performance of the graphics processor. Thus, a performance rating of a graphics processor lowers as the number of frame drops grows.
Unfortunately, the foregoing types of video benchmarking have been plagued by inaccuracies, confusion, subjectivity, etc., making it more difficult to rate graphics processors. For example, performance may change from one application to the next. Further, the aforementioned frame drops may sometimes be hard to detect visually, especially in borderline cases.
There is thus a need for overcoming these and/or other problems associated with the prior art.